UNITED NATIONS ألا مم المتحدة UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SUDAN UNMIS UNMIS Media Monitoring Report 16 th November 2006 (By Public Information Office) NOTE: Reproduction here does not mean that the UNMIS PIO can vouch for the accuracy or veracity of the contents, nor does this report reflect the views of the United Nations Mission in Sudan. Furthermore, international copyright exists on some materials and this summary should not be disseminated beyond the intended list of recipients. IN THE NEWS TODAY: UN - Egeland says the situation in Darfur heading to the worse - UN mulls central Africa force as Darfur woes spread - WHO expert declares polio overdose victims cured - Agencies distribute 30 tons of expired foodstuff to 50 schools in Blue Nile State United Nations and the Transitional Debate - UN not given up on Darfur force plan-annan - V-P Taha says UNSCR 1706 has been overtaken by events CPA - Sudan to help southerners return home GoNU - President Bashir to visit Juba on Saturday - SPLM boycotts session of the National Assembly GoSS/Southern Sudan/SPLM - Security in southern Sudan Juba and the environs Reconciliation Disarmament - Uganda says withdraws troops near LRA in Sudan Darfur/Darfur Peace Agreement - Government accuses SLM-Minnawi of inciting sedition in Darfur - JEM blasts the NRF and says it does not necessarily represents the people of Darfur - School in Darfur closed following threats by a group of citizens - Abdul Wahid in Europe - African Union denounces attack against AU monitors in Darfur - Sudan seeks to install allied regimes in C. Africa - Chad - Pro-government militias kill 50 in recent Darfur raids Editorials/ Commentaries - President Bashir is not saying No to the UN - Agreement on the petroleum commission
HIGHLIGHTS: UN Egeland says the situation in Darfur heading to the worse (AlSudani) UN Humanitarian chief Jan Egeland describes the situation in Darfur as worsening by the day and headed towards the worse. He said that an immediate halt in military activities in Darfur is the only way to guarantee success for the political process. Egeland who travels today to el-geneina and from there to Khartoum said that his current mission is to seek a mechanism to protect civilians and guarantee the needy access to humanitarian assistance that is being obstructed by looting. He said he receives reports of weekly attacks on people including humanitarian aid workers and called on the parties not to escalate such attacks and to allow access to humanitarian operations. He also called on government to guarantee security to all in Darfur and to endeavour to create a strong mechanism to that end especially given the turbulent period the region is passing through. Egeland expressed satisfaction at his recent meeting with foreign minister Lam Akol which he said focused on humanitarian operations. He also hailed the great role international and regional organisations and the international community are playing in that regard. UN mulls central Africa force as Darfur woes spread (Reuters/AP 16 th Nov. Seneit, Chad-Sudan border) The United Nations is considering deploying a protection force on Sudan s eastern borders with Chad and Central African Republic as hundreds more refugees spill over from its Darfur region. "We are convinced that the deterioration in the situation in Chad and in Central African Republic could require the deployment of a peacekeeping mission," Jean-Marie Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, told BBC radio. Guehenno told the BBC s French service that the delegation to be sent to both countries next week will evaluate whether it would be a light mission with observers or a mission with troops. WHO expert declares polio overdose victims cured WHO expert Dr. Salah el-haithami says the children who suffered from side-effects of an overdose of the vitamin A supplement have been declared healthy and will be released from hospital in the next two days. Speaking to SUNA, Dr. el-haithami pointed out that the recent uproar over the incident does not serve the interest of the children and their families and added that proper administering of the vaccine cuts child mortality rats by 23%.
He also said that medical reports of the children taken to the Buluk Hospital showed that 5 of these children did receive the right dose of the vaccine but had short-term side effects that do not affect their health. Agencies distribute 30 tons of expired foodstuff to 50 schools in Blue Nile State (AlSudani) Authorities in Blue Nile State have formed a committee to supervise regular inspection of relief foodstuffs of UN agencies to check on their validity. A source that opted for anonymity told the press that agencies have distributed up to 30 tons of expired foodstuff to 50 schools in Blue Nile State [the paper does not mention when this took place]. He said that authorities in the state have sent a report with samples of the suspect foodstuff to the Sudan Standards and Metrology Organisation for analysis. The Humanitarian Aid Commission in Blue Nile State has meanwhile formed teams to tour the schools in the state in order to collect the foodstuff. United Nations and the Transitional Debate UN not given up on Darfur force plan-annan (Reuters/ AP 15 th Nov. Nairobi) The United Nations has not given up on sending its own troops to reinforce a peacekeeping force in Darfur despite strong Sudanese opposition, Secretary- General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters in Nairobi, Annan also described the situation on Sudan s border with Chad as "very fragile and volatile" and said the United Nations might post observers there to ensure refugees there are protected and cross-border attacks are minimised. Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, asked to comment on Annan s remarks, did not rule out the presence of international troops but insisted the United Nations would not lead any force. "This confirms that everyone is now looking for a new picture," Taha said. "The participation of the international community (in Darfur) has to come via the African Union... we refuse any troops under the leadership of the United Nations." Annan will take part in high level talks on the Darfur crisis on Thursday in Ethiopia, aiming to stabilise the region and improve access for humanitarian workers while pressing ahead with the implementation of the political process. AlSudani has meanwhile learnt that Secretary-General Annan told a meeting with UN staff in Nairobi yesterday that Darfur tops the list of priorities for the remaining period of his tenure. He expressed confidence that a political settlement will be reached on the Darfur issue by the end of this year. The AP meanwhile reports that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan opens today in Addis Ababa a critical international meeting to discuss the increasingly desperate situation in Darfur and push again for U.N. peacekeepers to replace a beleaguered African force in Sudan s troubled western region.
V-P Taha says UNSCR 1706 has been overtaken by events (AlRai AlAam et al) Sudan has reiterated its rejection to a UN force in Darfur with V-P Taha telling the SUNA press forum that UNSCR 1706 has been overtaken by the times and the circumstances on the ground. He however called on the international community to actively contribute in providing positive assistance to the process for a comprehensive peace in the country. Of a UN force across the border in Chad, the V-P said that this will only further aggravate the crisis in Darfur. He also said that government supports the view that participation of the international community in the Darfur issue must pass through the African Union. * Excerpts from Vice-President Taha s press forum in separate attachment CPA Sudan to help southerners return home (Reuters 15 th Nov. Khrt.) Sudan will begin to return some of the more than 2 million southern Sudanese who have lived in slums surrounding the capital Khartoum for more than two decades, officials said on Wednesday. "This should be done before the census and that will enable those who return also to participate in the...elections," said Humanitarian Affairs Minister Kosti Manyebi. Similar programmes in other states of Sudan which house southerners who fled the fighting would begin at a later date, Manyebi said. "Don t all come to Khartoum...we will get to you," he told a news conference. The United Nations will contribute more than $100 million to the massive return programme while the central government would spend around $30 million and the autonomous southern government $24 million on the first year of the project, which could take years to complete. GoNU President Bashir to visit Juba on Saturday (The Citizen) According to the information minister, First Vice President of the Republic, President of South Sudan Lt. General Silva Kiir informed the cabinet that President Al Bashir intends to visit Juba next Saturday. While in Juba, the President of the Republic will discuss the features of the 2007 budget with the southern council of ministers. He is also expected to assess the security situation in southern Sudan. A welcoming rally for President Al Bashir is scheduled to take place at Salaam Stadium in Juba. SPLM boycotts session of the National Assembly
(Juba Post) SPLM and United Democratic Front (UDF) parliamentarians walked out of parliament yesterday amid National Congress Party chants of Allahu Akbar as they protested that documents relating to the items under discussion had not been translated from Arabic to English. Parliament was scheduled to discus the Legislative Body Regulatory Act when the two parties left but despite the walkout, the National Congress Party and the other MPs continued to discuss the act. Last week two sessions of the National Assembly were postponed because documents had not been translated. In another story, the Juba Post reveals that southern Sudanese parties represented in parliament held a meeting at the premises of the Democratic Forum for Southern Sudan last Thursday in a bid to unify their views particularly on issues pertaining to southern Sudan that have been raised in parliament. A source said that the parties have agreed to appoint a Mr. Samuel Kila as Spokesman for this caucus. GoSS/Southern Sudan/SPLM Security in southern Sudan JUBA AND THE ENVIRONS: (Juba Post) Following recent roadside ambushes, the GoSS has taken major steps to protect civilians by deploying SPLA forces on the three main roads of Bor, Nimule and Torit that connect to Juba. GoSS Vice-President Dr. Machar said attacks on these roads have subsided. He pointed out that there had been only one clash between cattle herders and the Lord's Resistance Army on 15 th October and that this has been confirmed by Lord's Resistance Army number two, Vincent Otti, who said the attack was launched by hungry Lord's Resistance Army soldiers trying to find their way to the assembly points but were blocked by the UPDF presence. SPLA Deputy Chief of Staff, Paulino Matip, says his forces now fully integrated into the SPLA will be deployed around volatile areas to protect there roads. In a separate story, the Juba Post also reports that an SPLA soldier was killed and four people injured by an unknown armed group that attempted to raid Gumbo, across the Nile from Juba town, but were repulsed by the SPLA. Security forces speculate that the armed group was trying to loot Gumbo for food supplies. Residents believe that the attack was carried out by the same armed group aligned to the SAF and say the situation in Gumbo is growing worse by the day despite the deployment of forces in those areas with the majority of the people there having evacuated the area or only reside in Gumbo during the day and commute to Juba in the evening. RECONCILIATION: On a more positive note, a group of 11 Lou-Nuer chiefs have come to Juba to meet GoSS President Salva Kiir as part of a reconciliation process between the SPLA and the Lou-Nuer community.
The Lou-Nuer chiefs are seeking compensation after a looting, raping and cattle raiding spree that took place during clashes with the SPLA earlier this year in Jonglei State in the wake of a poorly conducted disarmament campaign. DISARMAMENT: GoSS Vice-President Machar has urged the civil population in southern Sudan to follow the example of the peaceful disarmament of civilians in Akobo. He told the Juba Post that the people of Akobo are now happy and the police is preserving law and order while the civilians have resorted to traditional methods of conflict-resolution through chiefs and elders. The GoSS V-P said that the GoSS has formed a committee comprising members of the government, the army, the police and its development partners to address the problem of small arms and the control of light weapons. The 1,500 pieces of guns collected from the hands of the civilian population in Akobo was the result of the committee s pilot project. Murle land in Eastern Equatoria where so many guns are in the hands of the civilian population is also targeted in the disarmament but, adds the V-P, this will only happen after dialogue with neighbouring Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia where Karimojong, Turkana and Taposa cattle owners roam. The V-P believes that dialogue with these neighbouring countries is imperative to stop the flow of small arms coming into southern Sudan. Uganda says withdraws troops near LRA in Sudan (Reuters 15 th Nov. Kampala) The Ugandan army said on Wednesday it had withdrawn from three areas in southern Sudan after Lord s Resistance Army rebels complained their fighters assembling as part of a truce were under siege. "The UPDF (Uganda People s Defence Forces) has effective of 13th November 2006 withdrawn from Magwi, Palutaka and Tibika," army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement. "It will be recalled that the LRA had always refused to assemble, citing our presence in those positions as the obstacle. We have therefore withdrawn to further facilitate the peace talks." If true, the move will put greater pressure on the LRA to assemble in the two areas, as agreed in a renewal of the truce their delegates signed in October. The LRA were not immediately available for comment. Darfur/Darfur Peace Agreement Government accuses SLM-Minnawi of inciting sedition in Darfur (Rai AlShaab) Minister of Information and Social Affairs, Dr. Farah Mustafa, has accused the SLM-Minnawi spokesperson of inciting sedition in Haskanita area causing a tribal conflict between Almalia and Zagawa tribes two days ago. More than 41,000 people were displaced to Selaia Wais in Sharia Locality and the exact number of causalities is unknown so far.
JEM blasts the NRF and says it does not necessarily represents the people of Darfur (Alwan) Justice and Equality Movement spokesperson Idriss Ibrahim Azrag said that the National Redemption Front does not necessarily represent the people of Darfur. He said that violence is a useless option as long as dialogue continues on many fronts. He added that wars and confrontations bring more tragedies for Darfur. He described the NRF leadership as being a failure. School in Darfur closed following threats by a group of citizens (Rai AlShaab) The doors of Karrary School for girls in Nyala W. Darfur have been closed for two weeks now. This comes following an incident when a group of citizens attacked the school and threatened to kill the teaching staff if they don t close the school. The headmistress had then ordered the school closed and referred the issue to the Education Office and the States Teachers Union but nothing has been done. Abdul Wahid in Europe (The Citizen) In a telephone call from the Amsterdam, Holland, yesterday, the Sudan Liberation Movement/ Army chairman Abdul Wahid Mohamed Nur told The Citizen that he is visiting the European Union countries to discuss the Darfur crises, including the humanitarian situation, the political presses and other Sudanese problems. Holland is the first leg on his tour and he is scheduled to confer with top government officials who have repeatedly expressed their keenness to see an end to the human tragedy in Darfur. African Union denounces attack against AU monitors in Darfur (SudanTribune.com 15 th Nov. Khrt.) The African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) has denounced, in a press statement Wednesday, the seizure of one of its service vehicles and a Motorola radio used by one of its Military Observers by two bandits armed with pistols close to the border between Sudan and Chad on 6 November, 2006. According to a report from AMIS military personnel on the ground, the bandits ordered a Military Observer out of the vehicle (Registration Number AMIS 946) at gun point and collected the keys and Motorola radio number 749HFC1478, and while firing several shots into the air drove off to the Chad border. The AU monitors are unarmed personnel. Their presence in that locality was to help promote and foster peace and stability, as stipulated in its Mandate, the AU statement said Sudan seeks to install allied regimes in C. Africa - Chad (AFP 15 th Nov. Addis Ababa) "The government of Sudan has managed to export the Darfur crisis to Chad by means of a cleverly orchestrated crisis," Chad said in a document to the AU. "Since November 4, 2006, clashes between different communities have spread through all our regions bordering Sudan. Curiously, they just happen to involve the same communities that are conducting the scorched earth policy against certain non-armed communities in Darfur," the
government said in its document, which was examined by the AU s Peace and Security Council on Wednesday. In its complaint to the AU, Chad accused the regime in Khartoum of also seeking to foment violence in the Central African Republic, which lies to the south of Darfur. Chad urged the AU to help with the urgent deployment of a joint Chadian-Sudanese force to secure their common border, composed of 1,000 soldiers from each side. It was not immediately clear whether it was seeking financial, military or diplomatic assistance from the pan-african organisation. N Djamena also requested "the deployment, without delay, of a civilian force of 250-300 police officers from African countries and/or members of the Organisation of the Islamic Pro-government militias kill 50 in recent Darfur raids (AP 15 th Nov. Khrt.) Pro-government militiamen have stepped up their attacks on villages in Darfur, killing at least 50 people in recent days, international observers in the war torn Sudanese region said. During one raid on a Darfur village, the Janjaweed militiamen backed by government troops forced a number of children into a thatched hut, then set the hut ablaze, killing parents who tried to rescue the children, rebels in the region said. The U.N. said it was looking into reports that four children and two adults were killed in the raid in the village of Madu but could not confirm whether the children were burned alive. The Sudanese army categorically denied any connection to Janjaweed attacks, saying the claims were politically motivated. Some in Darfur say the government has let loose new Janjaweed forces in Darfur recently to put down an umbrella coalition of rebels. The group, known as the National Redemption Front, has rejected a peace deal in the region and has regularly been clashing with government forces. Khartoum denies these claims and insists it has no control over the militiamen. Raids in the past few days reflect an upsurge of Janjaweed militia activity, said Radhia Achouri, the spokeswoman for the United Nations mission in Sudan. "The militia have been active all along, but in terms of scope of the violence and damage, we are witnessing a new increase," Achouri told The Associated Press on the telephone. "Reports of 50 to 70 people killed appear very credible," she said. But she said the specific reports could not be independently investigated because the U.N. is "drastically restricting its own movements" in the areas where attacks are taking place. Editorials/ Commentaries President Bashir is not saying No to the UN
(Sudan Tribune editorial piece) Sudan Omer Al-Bashir had always been looked at as a very conservative leader who stands rigidly by his party principles and seems to give no room for diplomacy. He has been challenged from time to time by the international community on human rights abuses in Sudan, particularly in Darfur (the notorious Janjaweed). The UN outgoing boss Koffi Annan is reported to have an intention to float the idea of a hybrid African Union force for Darfur in talks with the Sudanese officials.the UN is indeed struggling to find the best solution acceptable to Khartoum which would create larger and better funded peace keeping mission to reduce the burden from the under funded and illequipped AU troops. To make the whole political struggle, the international community must also give Sudan and its government perhaps one chance. If things don t go well, then they could exert pressure to bring the government to terms with the Darfurians and the will of the international community. Sudan needs to take one step more and the Darfur crisis will be solved. Agreement on the petroleum commission (AlAyaam editorial) Vice President Salva Kiir announced yesterday that agreement has been reached on the petroleum commission thus ending the differences between the parties on the issue. It is worth mentioning that transparency is the most important point in guaranteeing that differences between the Parties are resolved. The oil accounts and statistics must be transparent. Secondly, the government must determine the north-south boundaries in order to prevent further differences.